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Vagrant dies after beating
A STREET drinker who was bludgeoned outside a Finsbury block of flats has died in hospital.
Frederick Jones, known as Freddie, died on Monday after spending a week in intensive care with severe head injuries.
The mystery death of Mr Jones appears to centre around a popular ‘wet house’ in the Joseph Trotter Close estate, off Myddleton Street, Clerkenwell, where local vagrants were allowed to stay the night in exchange for a few pounds.
Police say initial reports from their own computer-aided dispatch system that Mr Jones, 49, had been stabbed in the head were inaccurate.
The cause of death, a post mortem at St Pancras Mortuary on Tuesday revealed, was “severe head injuries” caused by a blunt instrument.
Officers were called to Joseph Trotter Close on Monday 19 February at 5pm to reports of a man injured.
What greeted them was a scene of horror with a trail of blood leading from the flats to the derelict Royal Mail pub around the corner.
Police would only say that a “dispute” took place between Mr Jones and another man.
Mr Jones, who was unemployed, was taken to University College London Hospital and later transferred to the National Hospital for Neurology in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, where he remained in surgical intensive care until his death.
He was a well-known face around Exmouth Market where he had been hanging around with a notorious group of street drinkers for at least 10 years.
Most traders who the Tribune spoke to had run-ins with the 49-year-old, who they said could become “aggressive” and “nasty” after a few drinks.
But the real enigma is why Mr Jones, who lived in Notting Hill, would travel almost daily to Finsbury to sit on a bench for hours and drink. He was a strapping six-footer with a huge beer belly until nine months ago when he returned to Exmouth Market after a short absence.
One trader said Mr Jones looked unusually trim after his break and suspect he had been in hospital for a stomach-stapling operation.
Little was known about his background apart from hints that he had travelled the world.
One shopkeeper, a 55-year-old father-of-two who asked not to be named, said: “When Freddie was sober he was so polite and that was usually in the mornings. He would come in and always talk about his travels to Goa in India.
“I’ve known him for about 10 years and there was talk about him coming into some inheritance money from a relative, which may explain the place in Ladbroke Grove.
“When people heard about the attack it wasn’t really a shock because he’s been in so many fights around here.”
Police from the Serious Crime Directorate are investigating the death and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Detective Inspector Mick Foote, who is leading the investigation, said: “There is a lot more that needs to be done and needs to be clarified.
“We have CCTV area which will be viewing. There’s also a suggestion that where he collapsed there were people walking by who saw his condition.”
Witnesses are asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 3715 or, to remain anonymous, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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